Outcry over units forces land rethink

Outcry over the number of apartments being built in the suburbs has prompted the Government to consider cutting the number of such developments and releasing more land on the city's fringe.

Since 1997, the controversial NSW Government policy of urban consolidation has ensured about 70 per cent of new housing is approved in existing suburbs and the rest in "greenfields" sites north-west and south-west of the city.

The policy, and claims that it has meant a steady loss of urban green space and driven up house prices, has played a big role in election campaigns.

The Government has consistently argued for continued levels of urban consolidation, as the city grows by more than 1000 new arrivals each week.

Opening up land on the fringe is a more expensive option for the Government because of its commitment that transport infrastructure be in place before land is released.

However, the Planning Minister, Craig Knowles, said the Government would look at "resetting the pendulum" after reassessing development ratios.

"Some of the pressures are too great on existing urban areas," he said.

The Opposition planning spokeswoman, Peta Seaton, said the Government had now admitted "they got it wrong" on housing.

"The Carr Government's cruel drip-feed of housing land for the last eight years has created today's crippling home prices," she said.

A spokesman for Mr Knowles, Paul Perry, said the Government would consider "a new mix" in formulating a metropolitan plan which would bring together planning for transport, jobs and housing.

The plan, expected next year, will replace the Sydney Region Outline plan which was drafted in 1968 and officially expired in 2000.

As the Herald reported two weeks ago, a NSW Government submission to the Productivity Commission's inquiry into housing affordability revealed it was contemplating the release of 90,000 lots in the Bringelly area in the south-west, and 60,000 more in the north-west, at Marsden Park and Riverstone.

Mr Knowles said the Government would release 6000 housing lots next year, up from 4000 the year before.

The Property Council's executive director of NSW policy, Ken Morrison, said it was "entirely appropriate" for the balance to be reconsidered.

However, the planning challenge for Sydney could not be solved by putting all new housing at the urban fringe.